Chichester Board of Selectmen
SELECTMEN’S MINUTES
March 18, 2008
MEMBERS PRESENT: Selectman DeBold, Selectman MacCleery, Selectman Jordan and Administrator Lisa Stevens.
Selectman DeBold opened the meeting at 7:00pm. Motion Selectman MacCleery, second Selectman Jordan, to appoint Selectman DeBold as Chairman of the Board of Selectman. All were in favor. Motion carries.
SUBJECT: Posting Roads
PRESENT: David Kenneally, Road Agent
Mr. Kenneally came to the Board to formally notify them that he is posting the weight limit ordinance on all town roads. Lisa will submit notice to the Concord Monitor. Motion Selectman MacCleery, second Chairman DeBold, to not allow trucking over posted roads, unless exempt per statute. All three were in favor. Motion carries. Lisa was directed to notify Pleasantview Nurseries of this decision.
Selectman Jordan stated the highway department did a great job this winter on the roads.
SUBJECT: Fire Chief’s position
PRESENT: Gil Vien, Fire Chief
Mr. Vien submitted a letter of interest for the appointment of Fire Chief. The interim appointment he has covered expires on April 1, 2008. The new Board has not discussed the process for re-appointment at this time.
SUBJECT: Fire Department Concerns
PRESENT: Mike Paveglio
Mr. Paveglio brought forward his concerns and recommendations for the department going forward. Mike stated he was not here to bad mouth the current leadership. Mike outlined ongoing issues that in his opinion did not have anything to do with the current chief, but were potentially a significant liability for the town.
The loss of significant trained members,
A lot of recent additions-not sure of their qualifications, if any,
Response has been less than safe or no response- this is not new,
Ambulance duty being handled by a small group-potential for fast burnout,
Needs to be a short term and long term plan for staffing the department,
Minimum standards from NFPA should be followed, not a safe situation.
Volunteer departments are still liable, there is an extreme need to plan for hazardous situations and train personnel, the department needs to show a good faith effort.
Deputy Chief Uitts agreed with Mike’s comments and added the department has always had good training and all volunteer departments see a good amount of turnover.
Mike stated key indicators for the Board to review;
response times
number of members responding
qualifications of members responding
Page 2
BOS minutes
March 18, 2008
Mike stated his solutions;
Evaluate hiring full-time personnel
Short term and long term planning – directed by the Board of Selectmen
Regionalization – Mike volunteered to work with the Town Organization Committee on this aspect
In closing, Mike offered to assist the Selectmen with the Chief selection and stated his opinion that he did not feel the town should support two ambulances; instead we should get money for selling the 2000 ambulance.
GENERAL BUSINESS/BOARD DISCUSSION:
Vacancies –
BOA – Selectman MacCleery will ask the secretary to contact Mr. Millette to inquire his interest
PB – Motion Chairman DeBold, second Selectman Jordan to reappoint Tom Jameson and Stan Brehm to three (3) year terms, to appoint alternate Chris Weir to a voting member, with a three (3) year term and to appoint alternate David Kenneally to a voting member, with a one (1) year term. All were in favor. Motion carries. Alternates and an ex-officio still need to be determined.
Deputy Treasurer – Motion Selectman MacCleery, second Selectman Jordan to reappoint Rena Baker as deputy treasurer for a one (1) year term. All were in favor. Motion carries.
Welfare Coordinator – Motion Chairman DeBold, second Selectman MacCleery to reappoint Donna Stockman as welfare coordinator for a one (1) year term. All were in favor. Motion carries.
Emergency Management Director – Motion Selectman MacCleery, second Selectman Jordan to reappoint John Martell as Emergency Management Director for a three (3) year term. All were in favor. Motion carries.
The Board discussed additional duties they would like to see performed by the Building Inspector and deferred appointment until the opportunity to discuss with Mr. Paveglio.
Fire Chief - The selection for reappointment of the Fire Chief was discussed at length. The options presented were; open up to qualified/interested department members, or status quo. The Board debated the process going forward for appointment of the Fire Chief. The Board agreed to open the selection to all qualified and or interested department members this year due to the interim status, however going forward, this reappointment would be treated such as the police chief’s appointment and would only be opened up in the event the Board was unhappy with the present chief. The Fire Department Operations Manual lists the qualifications for each officer’s position and states the candidate must be a member of the Chichester Fire/Rescue department. A lengthy
discussion between the Board members ensued over the intent of that wording. The Board discussed the definition of member and the definition of membership. All three finally agreed that if someone has left the department they are not considered a member. The definition of the word member means that you must be part of a whole, one of the individuals composing a group, therefore the manual implies a ‘current’ member. The Selectmen agreed that the spirit of the manual was to mean current member, it has always been the intent of the fire department to promote from within, and there has never been a chief that was not a member of the department. Motion Selectman Jordan, second Selectman MacCleery to amend the Fire Department Organization & SOG Manual, Section II, Chief,
Page 3
BOS minutes
March 18, 2008
Deputy Chief, Captain, Lieutenant, Officer Qualifications to insert the word ‘current’ before the word member, to clarify the intent of the regulations. All three were in favor. Motion carries.
Forest Warden Steve Stock stated he is still a member of the Fire Association and therefore still eligible for consideration.
Chairman DeBold stated there is nothing in the Fire Department SOG’s that speaks about the fire association.
Chief Vien stated the association by-laws read that if you are not a member of the fire department, you are no longer a member of the association.
Selectman Jordan asked the status of the bill paying by the department. The bills are all current and paid in a timely fashion according to the procedures put in place by the selectmen’s office for all departments.
Motion Chairman DeBold, second Selectman Jordan, since the ratification of RSA 154:1 by the legislative body at town meeting, the Board of Selectmen establishes a policy that every three (3) years the Selectmen conduct an open selection of qualified fire department members for the reappointment of the Fire Chief.
Selectman MacCleery posed the question, how can we bind future boards? The response was, you can’t.
Chairman DeBold called for the vote, Jordan – yes; DeBold – yes; MacCleery – no. Motion carries.
The Selectmen directed Lisa to send a memo for posting by the Fire Chief tomorrow, notifying all department members that any interested member for the Chief’s position, must submit a Letter of Interest to the Selectmen by noon on Monday, March 24, 2008, for consideration by the Board on Tuesday, March 25th.
The Board confirmed the vote at town meeting, electing to offer Group One employees participation in the New Hampshire Retirement System by signing the NHRS Resolution. Motion Chairman DeBold, second Selectman MacCleery to approve the inclusion of its officers and employees in the New Hampshire Retirement System of the State of New Hampshire, as provided for by RSA 100-A, for the employees of the Town of Chichester, effective June 1, 2008. All three were in favor. Motion carries.
Motion Selectman MacCleery, second Selectman Jordan to deny the abatement request for map 8, lot 13.
All three were in favor. Motion carries.
The Selectman received notification of Chief Clarke’s vacation and a request for an extension of Officer Wright’s carryover of one week’s time from 2007. The Selectmen reviewed the carryover stipulation listed in the personnel policies. Any vacation carryover must be used by the end of the first quarter of the following year. The Board will waive the carryover deadline only if the time was asked for and denied by the supervisor. The Board should be made aware of in advance if an employee has been denied his time off. Lisa will contact the police chief in the morning.
Page 4
BOS minutes
March 18, 2008
Selectman MacCleery asked the Fire Chief to find out how many staff members area towns have on ambulance duty and informed the Chief that he read in the LGC publication ‘Knowing the Territory”, that OSHA doesn’t apply to the town.
Selectman Jordan has received a request from Mr. Paul Adams to attend a workshop on Junkyard Regulations on behalf of the town. Selectman MacCleery attended that workshop last spring. The Board was not interested in having Mr. Adams attend at this time.
Steve Stock requested a thirty minute non-public session to discuss his termination of last July. Mr. Stock stated his right to appeal. The Board has met with Mr. Stock on several occasions regarding these events and denied his request for this evening.
Selectman MacCleery brought up his concern for purchasing another four-wheel drive cruiser this year. He would prefer to see this on an every other year rotation. The cruiser has already been ordered and purchased based on the Boards approval of funding through the detail revenues. Going forward Selectman MacCleery stressed the need for a written directive regarding the purchasing of town vehicles.
Deputy Uitts expressed his frustration with not being allowed to speak on behalf of Chief Vien, yet the Board allowed Mr. Stock to interrupt and interject his comments continuously through out the chief discussion. Mr. Uitts submitted his written comments.
Mail and correspondence were reviewed. Accounts payable and payroll were signed.
Motion Selectman MacCleery, second Chairman DeBold to adjourn the meeting at 10:10pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Stevens
Administrator Approved As Written
3/25/2008
______________________ _______________________ _______________________
Richard DeBold, Chairman Stephen MacCleery Jeffrey Jordan
| 
